The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-10-17
A CHAPLAIN AFLOAT +!
BEING THE ACCOUNT OF THE CRUISE
OF II. b. MS SHIP OF WAR THE
BLUNDERBUss FROM PANAMA,
L. 8. OF c. TO HONOLULU, II. I.
Extracted from The Records oil the Archaic
- Club.
[BY pERcIvAL LESLIE. |

In faint voice, and in o
manner almost incoherent he told
the cause, and was answered by
many of the ladies with the cpithets
of ''horrid man," "perfect brute"
and one lady, whose path Of life ran
considerably over the middle mile
stone, throwing up her hands and
eye balls with an air of utter horror
exclaimed, "And a Minister of the
Gospel, too" Whilst the company
were busily engaged either in reviv-
ing the sufferer or in converse as to
its cause, the Chaplain dragged
rather than led by the midshipman
made his way out of the room
into the cool night and with the in
functions of his leader that he knew
he would bungle the matter hast
ened to the wharf, and jumping into
a boat, did not draw a satisfied
breath until he felt his foot solidly
placed upon the good ships deck.
This was the Chaplain's last visit
to Payta, for in few days after the
occurrence above recorded, the ship
steamed out of the port, and headed
for the harbor of Callao, also in
Peru. Nothing of note on the eight
day trip occurred worthy of notice,
except that Mr.. Straight Choker
finding TO kindle into a wholesome
fame the dying embers of Christian
righteousness that lay in the MIDI
shipman's breast a failure, finally
abandoned him to whatever result
his persistent following in the path
Of unbelief might lead to. He had
extended to him the olive branch of
godly peace, and it having been
cast ruthlessly aside-he felt that
his evangelical mission in that
quarter having been a failure, and
the seeds of his sowing having been
choked out by the cockles-he could
do no more, so he as far the inplant-
ing of religious was concerned, left
him to a more merciful God, and
the bent of his own inclination.
On the eighth day after their
departure from Payta, the Blunder-
buss rode proudly to her anchorage
in Callao bay. The sun was just
sinking behind the mountains, and
the sky tinged by its dying rays in
the exquisite hues of the prison,
fanking as it did the truly beau
tiful town and shipping covered
bay, presented a scene long to be
dwelt upon in admiration. So
thought the Chaplain, as he took the
sight in from his position upon the
poop, everything seemed so calm, so
wierdly beautiful, that with feelings
of considerably impatient curiosity
he awaited the lowering of the boats,
that he might go ashore. What a
busy scene the decks of the ship
presented to him; officers and petty
officers were flying hither and
thither, rudely breaking in upon the
stiffness of the approaching eve with
thunderlike tones of voice that
transmitted the various orders that
were necessary to bring the ship to
a proper condition of affairs. The
men were running here, there and
everywhere; some pulling ropes,
others running up and down among
the riggings, and others really doing
nothing but doing that nothing in
the busiest way imaginable. By the
completion of sunset the work was
done, and the ship-her decks of
sea gear cleared-lay as calm and
as beautifully clean, as could be
wished for, and the Chaplain-his
dinner being hurriedly despatched
found himself going over the gang
way on his way to the shore.
The crew were not allowed to 60
ashore that night-no one could
leave the ship save the officers
until the condition of the city's
health could be authoritively ascer-
tanned. To the naturally contem-
plative turn of the Chaplain's mind
this condition suggested nice pro-
blem for the Royal College of Ply
sicians to solve, to wit:-The law
of Nature; The Lex Scriptae, as
well as the leges non Scriptae layed
down the rule that all men without
regard to distinction were shaped
the same; The ingredients from
which the flesh of A was formed were
precisely the same as those that
make that of B and so on ad infini-
tem-yet according to r. n. usage
it were dangerous for the men to 60
ashore, less infectious diseases in
occulate them but the officers could
face the impending or threatening
evil with impunity Why and where
fore makes Nature this distinction
so contradictory to her fundamental
law Of equality. The question the
Chaplain determined to place before
the Royal College Immediately on
his return to London.
With his usual SYSTEMATIC arran-
cement of affairs, the first night on
bis return from his flying trip to
CaIIao, the Chaplain set about lay
ing out programme of inspection.
After some consultation with the
Midshipman, who of course was TO
be q member of the party, it was
decided to make Lima the first OBJ
ject of their visit. This was done
because of the innumerable objects